Suspicious drone overflights of critical infrastructure and US Ramstein base alarm German authorities

German security authorities detected multiple suspicious drone flights starting in August 2024 in northern Germany over industrial facilities such as ChemCoast Park Brunsbüttel including a shut-down nuclear plant and LNG terminal. Since late November 2024, further drone sightings occurred at BASF chemical plant in Ludwigshafen and the US Ramstein Air Base, the latter being headquarters for US Air Force Europe. These drones are larger and faster than recreational drones, flying primarily at dusk and night. Authorities, including the Landeskriminalamt Rheinland-Pfalz and Bundeskriminalamt, have launched special investigation units but have so far failed to identify operators or origins. Experts suspect Russian military reconnaissance drones launched possibly from GUGI Russian navy ships in the Baltic or North Sea. Similar suspicious drone activities are being investigated by the FBI in the US and in the UK near US military bases. German drone defense capabilities remain inadequate, especially for civilian critical infrastructure which only police protect, unlike military installations guarded by the Bundeswehr.